Start of a long-term partnership
First State Investments has successfully completed the acquisition of a stake in Mannheim-based energy company MVV - MVV CEO Dr. Müller: “With First State, we now have an experienced partner at our side for the long term.”
First State Investments (First State) is the new largest minority shareholder in MVV Energie AG. An infrastructure fund advised by First State has closed the acquisition of a combined 45.8 percent shareholding in MVV after all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained and the public offer has been completed. This was announced by First State, MVV and the City of Mannheim on Tuesday. At the beginning of April, First State already signed a share purchase agreement with EnBW AG and RheinEnergie AG to acquire 45.1 percent of MVV shares. The City of Mannheim remains MVV’s majority shareholder with a 50.1 percent shareholding.
The Lord Mayor of the City of Mannheim, Dr. Peter Kurz, emphasised that today is a good day for MVV: “With First State as a new cornerstone shareholder, MVV has gained a strong, reliable and long-term oriented partner. The successful closing of the transaction is the starting point for a promising cooperation. First State and the City of Mannheim share a common goal of supporting MVV in successfully implementing its strategy of a sustainable and value-creating development.”
First State is a major international asset manager. For more than 20 years, it has been making long-term investments in sustainable companies in the utility, energy and transport sectors, in Europe predominately for European pension funds and insurance companies. First State currently manages globally around 8 billion euros of equity capital across a variety of infrastructure sectors. First State has long-term interests in several operators of electricity, gas and heating networks and wind farms, among others.
Gregor Kurth, Head of Transactions, Infrastructure Investments at First State, was pleased about the trust placed in First State by the City of Mannheim and MVV at the start of this new partnership: “We intend to use our expertise and experience in the fields of energy and infrastructure and support MVV in its further development for the benefit of the company, its customers and the communities it serves. As a long-term oriented infrastructure investor, we look forward to working with MVV in the coming years.”
As required by German takeover law, First State had to submit a public offer for all outstanding shares of MVV in the course of acquiring the shareholding. In total approx. 0.7 percent of the shares were tendered to First State as part of this process.
According to MVV’s CEO, Dr. Georg Müller, the result clearly shows that the shareholders are also convinced of the long-term potential of MVV: “We would like to thank all our shareholders for their support of our strategy, which is geared towards sustainable growth. With First State, MVV now has an experienced investor at its side who supports the company’s goals of working towards a sustainable energy system transformation and the climate-neutral energy system of the future. We are looking forward to the future cooperation.”
Media contacts:
MVV Energie AG
Kommunikation
Roland Kress
Luisenring
D - 68159 Mannheim
Tel. +49 621 290 3413
Mail: r.kress@mvv.de
First State Investments
FTI Consulting
Florian Brueckner
Park Tower | Bockenheimer Anlage 44
D - 60322 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49 69 92037 144
Mail: florian.brueckner@fticonsulting.com
Stadt Mannheim
Pressestelle
Ralf Walther
Rathaus E5
D - 68159 Mannheim
Tel. +49 621 293 2915
Mail: ralf.walther@mannheim.de
About First State Investments:
First State Investments are stewards of over US$123 billion (as at 31 March 2020) in assets managed on behalf of a client base that extends across Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. With expertise across a range of asset classes and specialist investment sectors, our approach to investment is driven by a commitment to provide the best possible outcomes over the long term for our investors. To achieve this, we ensure our interests are aligned with our investors and uphold a culture of consistently acting in our clients’ best interests. First State is a leading manager of, and investor in, infrastructure assets. With more than twenty years’ experience in infrastructure investment, it is one of the longest established managers of infrastructure assets on behalf of institutional investors and currently manages in excess of €8 billion of equity invested across assets in the utility, transport and social infrastructure sectors in Europe, Australia and North America. In Australia, First State operates as First Sentier Investors, having rebranded from Colonial First State Global Asset Management on 16 September 2019. First State operates as a standalone business owned and overseen by the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
About MVV:
With more than 6,000 employees and sales of around Euro 4 billion, MVV is one of Germany‘s leading energy companies. Our activities focus on providing a reliable, economical and environmentally-friendly supply of energy to our industrial, commercial and private household customers. Their individual needs and expectations motivate us in developing innovative products and business models. Here, we cover all stages of the energy value chain: from energy generation, energy trading and energy distribution to operating distribution grids through to our sales activities and environmental energy and energy-related service businesses. Our corporate strategy is consistently based on making increasing use of renewable energies, boosting energy efficiency and further expanding highly efficient combined heat and power generation and environmentally-friendly district heating. We are also investing in our future grid capability and modernizing our generation plants. In all our activities, we can count on the mature competence and expertise of our employees. They stand to benefit from secure and attractive jobs in future as well.
